Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has approved the business case for Luas trams on Dublin's Red Line to be increased from 30m to 40m in length.
The extension will see 10-metre "modules" added to current trams, aimed at increasing passenger numbers by 40 per cent on the service between Tallaght and the city centre.
When the work is complete in 2008, up to 56,000 people a day will be able to use the line. Trams on the Green Line are already 40m long.
According to the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), it had been originally planned to have 30-metre trams on both lines. But a decision at the planning stage was taken to increase overall capacity by 30 per cent. This was achieved on the Red Line by increasing the number of trams from 20 to 26.
However, on the Green Line it was decided to increase the length of the 14 trams themselves by adding another 10-metre module.
Now with both lines up and running a year, the RPA has decided to extend all trams to 40 metres.
The agency has already had 40-metre trams from the Green Line running in test conditions on the Red Line, with no resultant problems, according to a spokesman. "It gives the lie to the suggestion that the tracks were a different width," he said.
The difference between the two lines lies in the width between the inbound and outbound lines, rather than the gauge, he added. The Green Line was built with the inbound and outbound lines further apart than those of the Red Line.
